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PANUPS: Swainson's Hawk Agreement



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                   Pesticide Action Network 
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November 4, 1996

Agreement to Protect Swainson's Hawks

A recent international agreement reached by industry, 
government officials and environmentalists may save 
Swainson's hawks from monocrotophos poisoning in Argentina, 
according to the American Bird Conservancy (ABC), a U.S. 
environmental group that brokered the agreement. Tens of 
thousands of Swainson's hawks have died in Argentina in 
recent years after consuming monocrotophos, an 
organophosphate insecticide that farmers apply to alfalfa 
fields for grasshopper control. The raptors, which migrate 
every year from western Canada and the U.S., are due to begin 
arriving in Argentina in early November. 

After calling for a global withdrawal of monocrotophos, ABC 
convened a meeting in August 1996 with Canadian and U.S. 
government toxicologists and other officials, representatives 
of several environmental groups and Ciba-Geigy, one of the 
largest purveyors of monocrotophos in Argentina. Participants 
at the meeting stressed that Swainson's hawks are severely 
threatened by monocrotophos in Argentina. Because so many of 
the adults concentrate in a relatively small area (compared 
to the region they inhabit in Canada and the U.S.), poisoning 
incidents in Argentina could greatly impact worldwide 
populations of the hawks. Over 700 hawks were found dead 
under one roost.

According to ABC, monocrotophos is one of the most acutely 
toxic pesticides to birds ever used and major bird kills have 
been reported from its use for more than 25 years. U.S. EPA 
classifies monocrotophos a Class I toxin, the most potent 
toxicity category -- it is not registered for use in Canada 
or the U.S. 

Ciba-Geigy agreed at the meeting to remove monocrotophos from 
the Argentinean market in areas where the Swainson's hawks 
reside and buy back remaining stocks of monocrotophos. In 
addition, Ciba will add warning labels to containers 
indicating that the pesticide is prohibited for use on 
grasshoppers or alfalfa fields and initiate television, radio 
and poster announcements regarding the hazards of 
monocrotophos. Ciba-Geigy manufactures one third of the 
monocrotophos sold in Argentina. 

Ciba also agreed to encourage other pesticide companies to 
take similar steps toward protecting Swainson's hawks. Since 
the meeting, three other companies that sell monocrotophos in 
Argentina have agreed to take it off the market and buy back 
existing stocks in the region where Swainson's hawks gather. 
In addition, the Argentinean government announced it will ban 
monocrotophos for use on alfalfa and grasshoppers. 

Scientists in Canada and the U.S. have observed declining 
Swainson's hawk populations for several years, but little was 
known about their migratory habits until 1994, when U.S. 
biologists documented that large flocks of the raptors 
congregated in an agricultural region of Argentina 300 miles 
west of Buenos Aires. Last winter, scientists from the U.S. 
Forest Service counted a total of 4,000 dead Swainson's hawks 
at four sites in Argentina, and estimated that 20,000 raptors 
-- approximately 5% of the world's Swainson's hawk population 
-- had died from poisoning that season. Forensic evidence 
confirmed that monocrotophos was responsible. Scientists 
believe some of the birds were killed by direct exposure and 
others by eating contaminated grasshoppers. Grasshoppers are 
the hawks' primary source of food in Argentina

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been funding training 
and outreach efforts about the hawks in Argentina and a local 
conservation group will send biologists to educate farmers 
about the effects of monocrotophos and to suggest safer 
alternatives. Among the alternatives being recommended are 
carbaryl, pyrethroids and the organophosphate malathion. One 
scientist involved in the meetings expressed concern about 
the replacements, stating that Swainson's hawks "may be very 
sensitive to organophosphates." 

According to agriculture officials in Argentina, pesticide 
use for grasshopper control will likely increase because 
farmers are under intense economic pressure to intensify 
agricultural production for the international market. U.S. 
export records show that exports of hazardous pesticides to 
Argentina increased from 1.3 million pounds in 1992 to 8.1 
million pounds in 1994.

Sources: New York Times, October 15, 1996; "Agreement Reached 
to Save Swainson's Hawks," American Bird Conservancy Press 
Release, October 1996; Pierre Mineau, Canadian Wildlife 
Service, personal communication, October 31, 1996; "Silent 
Wings," Audubon, October 1996.

Contact: American Bird Conservancy, 1250 24th Street, NW, 
Suite 220, Washington, DC 20037; phone (202) 467-8348; email 
gww@abcbirds.org.

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